This painting was developed from a charcoal drawing ('Among the Fallen' reproduced in more detail in my drawing section), and as the painting 'Gumleaf Requiem', was submitted for the Gallipoli Art Prize,Sydney 2009, as a specific reference to the cost paid in mostly young Australian lives during the Gallipoli landings, and by reference everywhere Australians serve in conflict not of their making. Often, if paintings stay in my studio long enough, I will re-assess them, and sometimes find room for development. In 2012 I re-worked this painting. Composition is similar, (but not identical), and 95% of the canvas surface has been repainted, shifting colour, and tone. Detail has given sharper edges, but the feeling is softer, kinder....or as kind as our mortality can be.